Various solutions are known in the prior art, consisting of improving the suture and healing process by using an external energy source. The lips of the wound are brought together and held in place by a dressing, which may include active ingredients that are activatable by the external energy source.
International patent application WO9717025 describes a treatment process consisting of affixing a cross-linked material containing a non-collagenous protein component onto a tissue. This cross-linked material is first placed on a target location on the tissue, and energy is then applied to the cross-linked material. The non-collagenous protein component is such that when energy is applied in an appropriate quantity, the matrix adheres to the tissue.
European patent application EP265470 describes a device for uniting the lips of a wound, comprising a laser whose emission wavelength is chosen such that it can perform tissue bonding and unite the lips of the wound, and a holding piece suitable for being secured to the tissue around the wound so as to hold the lips of said wound in contact, at least while the wound is exposed to said laser radiation. The holding piece includes at least one region suitable for being positioned over the wound and sufficiently transparent at the wavelength of laser radiation for the energy of said radiation to be sufficient, after it has passed through said region, to perform the desired tissue bonding.
The use of activation devices such as a laser source is not without danger and handling such apparatus may cause accidents if the beam is inadvertently directed towards the eye of a person near the operating area.